JPMorgan Chase

Go Global San Diego has laid out the facts. If San Diego wants to compete in a global marketplace, it must encourage companies to increase their global engagement. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has stepped up to the plate to catalyze small and medium sized enterprises to take their businesses to the rest of the world.

At the Go Global San Diego Summit on Wednesday, San Diego Regional EDC and JPMorgan Chase announced the MetroConnect Prize. MetroConnect will provide selected company with up to $10,000 in matching funds to cover up to 50 percent of the costs associated with the company’s next steps to going global.

Thanks to support from the JPMorgan Chase & Co., San Diego Regional EDC will award the MetroConnect Prize to at least 20 companies trying to take their innovative products abroad, secure strategic partnerships and boost international sales, that ultimately translates into increased economic activity in San Diego.

Leading up to San Diego’s Global Summit on March 11, we’ll be giving a rundown of some panelists, guest speakers and programs involved in the Summit every Wednesday.

1,300 employees, 900,000+ consumer customers, and more than 66,000 small business clients in the San Diego region: JPMorgan Chase’s incredible community involvement and collaboration ensures San Diego companies and organizations have the tools necessary to promote job growth and secure investment for the region.

For example, in the case of San Diego’s global trade and investment initiative, no other business has supported its successful implementation more than JPMorgan Chase. Through JPMorgan Chase’s major contributions, the global trade and investment initiative will enable San Diego companies to reach markets around the world by exporting or receiving foreign investment. In addition to providing companies access to global markets, this initiative will also provide companies with a roadmap to better understand the exporting process by identifying organizations to work with and other important information empowering San Diego companies.

“The strategies outlined in San Diego’s global trade and investment initiative will help our region’s employers realize their export potential and strengthen our position as a hub for international investment,” said Brennon Crist, head of JPMorgan Chase’s Middle Market Commercial Banking group in San Diego. “As we invest in the future of San Diego, we hope our commitment will serve as an example of the impact that the private sector can have on local and regional economic development.”

JP Morgan Chase, EDC and other key partners will announce San Diego’s global trade and investment initiative during San Diego’s Global Summit on March 11 (sold out). Without the generous support from JPMorgan Chase, the execution of the initiative’s programs would not be possible.

In the coming week, EDC will announce details for a live webcast of San Diego’s Global Summit. Stay tuned to learn more about San Diego’s global trade and investment initiative.

As part of San Diego Regional EDC’s work to increase the region’s global competitiveness, a delegation of San Diegans will head to Munich, Germany next week to explore innovation strategies to strengthen advanced manufacturing. Representing a mix of academia, industry, and business organizations, the delegation will tour some of Munich’s most innovative companies, including BMW and Siemens, and meet with German leaders including the HonorableDieter Reiter, Mayor of Munich.

Germany – where manufacturing represents nearly twice the share of employment as in the United States – offers an illustrative model for industry growth and workforce development. Its manufacturing firms rely on a robust dual model of vocational education and on-the-job training to sustain a highly-trained workforce and powerful public-private collaborations to support continuous innovation.

“San Diego – much like Munich – has the talent, innovation and vision to compete and lead in the global marketplace,” said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of San Diego Regional EDC, one of the delegates on the trip. “Both San Diego and Munich have harnessed the power of public/private collaboration to fuel economic growth. Our trip to Munich will help us advance our local innovation economy.”

Cafferty will be joined by Monique Rodriguez, director of government affairs, Qualcomm, Inc.; Ian Wendlandt, chief of staff, Stone Brewing Company; and Mary Walshok, associate vice chancellor for public programs and dean of extension at UC San Diego.

In addition to stops at BMW and Siemens, the agenda also includes tours at small and medium-sized manufacturers. Delegates will also engage in panel discussions centered around manufacturing and innovation featuring the Hon. John Emerson, U.S. Ambassador to Germany and Bruce Katz, co-director of the Global Cities Initiative among others. Representatives from Chicago, Louisville-Lexington, Nashville, Phoenix and Portland will also be joining the trip.

The City of Munich plays an important role in San Diego’s global competitiveness. Munich is the region’s sixth largest source of foreign investment; companies with Munich-based operations employ 1,222 people in San Diego. From an industry standpoint, Munich and San Diego excel in cleantech, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, information and communication technologies and other innovative fields.

The trip is part of San Diego’s participation in the Global Cities Initiative (GCI), a joint effort between the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase that aims to help cities and metropolitans enhance their global competitiveness. San Diego joined GCI in 2012.

“JPMorgan Chase has a longstanding commitment to helping cities thrive,” said Peter Kaldes, head of the Global Cities Initiative at JPMorgan Chase, who will be joining the trip. “We are thrilled to bring together U.S. and German city leaders who we hope will forge new economic bonds and, in the process, help their cities grow.”

In April 2014, as part of the GCI, San Diego was one of six U.S. cities selected to participate in a pilot program to develop a foreign direct investment (FDI) plan. A jobs generator, foreign-owned companies employ nearly 50,000 workers in San Diego, paying above average U.S. wages.

In early 2015, the GCI will convene in San Diego to launch a comprehensive global trade and investment plan.